French (PhD) PhD

The University of Edinburgh

Doctorate-level study is an opportunity to make an original, positive contribution to research in French and Francophone Studies.

Join our interdisciplinary community and undertake your PhD under the guidance of our experienced and well-published supervisors.

French has been taught here since 1894, making it one of the first European languages to be offered at Edinburgh. We specialise in the language, literatures and cultures of France and the many countries around the world in which French is spoken.

Language, to us, is inseparable from culture. As such, we encourage you to think broadly and explore the implications of language in a wider perspective.

Research excellence

In the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), our research in French and Francophone Studies was submitted in Modern Languages and Linguistics (Panel D - Arts and Humanities; Unit of Assessment 26).

The results reaffirm Edinburgh’s position as one of the UK’s leading research universities - third in the UK.

As published in Times Higher Education's REF power ratings, this result is based on the quality and breadth of our research in the unit of assessment.

Our research expertise covers a wide range of areas, including:

• Adaptation studies
• Contemporary politics and institutions
• Film studies
• Theatre studies
• Intermediality studies
• Black studies
• Women’s and gender studies
• Francophone and post-colonial studies
• French thought
• Literature from the Middle Ages to the present day
• Self-writing
• Translation studies
• Word and image

Across the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC) and the wider University, we are able to support PhD theses crossing boundaries between languages and/or disciplines.

Over the course of your PhD, you’ll be expected to complete an original body of work under the expert guidance of your supervisors leading to a dissertation of usually between 80,000 and 100,000 words.

You will be awarded your doctorate if your thesis is judged to be of an appropriate standard, and your research makes a definite contribution to knowledge.

Go beyond the books

Beyond the Books is a podcast from the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC) that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at research and the people who make it happen. Listen to a mix of PhD, early career and established researchers talk about their journey to and through academia and about their current and recent research.